In the past, the Grammy Awards have sometimes gotten knocked for being slow to adapt. But at a time when the music industry is undergoing radical change, the 68th edition of the awards show is likely to feel more like a responsive update.
For one thing, it’s the first time that a Spanish-language artist — Bad Bunny — is up for all three biggies: record, song and album of the year.
That’s not the only development that has my attention.
Last fall, I reported on the split of the country album category. The newly created traditional category wound up with an interesting mix of nominees: one, Zach Top, is a current mainstream hitmaker whose finesse and fluency in the plainspoken poetry of heartbreak places him squarely in the lineage of Keith Whitley, George Strait and Alan Jackson; two, Margo Price and Charley Crockett, are each known for independent-minded approaches that have previously attracted the embrace of the Americana world; and the remaining pair, Lukas Nelson and his dad Willie, represent a family dynasty founded on the outlaw lore that grew up around the senior Nelson’s stylistic restlessness.
The new contemporary country album category looks a lot like years past. Three of the nominees — Miranda Lambert, Eric Church and Kelsea Ballerini — are such established, and respected, commercial forces that they’ve gotten repeat album nods. And while the remaining two, Tyler Childers and Jelly Roll, are miles apart in sound and sensibility, both have been recognized in various country categories before.
For country music traditionalists, Grammy changes promise a brighter spotlight
Then there are the familiar Nashville figures whose recent stylistic evolutions landed them in different categories. After twice winning best bluegrass album, Molly Tuttle stretched her acoustic chops toward pop and rock and got an Americana album nomination. Hayley Williams, who’s scored rock wins with Paramore, explored so freely on her third solo project that it’s up for best alternative music album.
There’s broader recognition for Nashville’s behind-the–scenes talent too. Nate Smith, the drummer who powers Brittany Howard’s band, has an alternative jazz album nomination, and Claude Kelly and Chuck Harmony, who make up the duo Louis York, worked on the Durand Bernarr album that’s nominated in the progressive R&B category.
The most unwieldy adaptation is on the AI front. Two years after the Grammys ruled music made with the assistance of AI eligible, and one year after the Beatles AI-aided song “Now and Then” actually won, AI music is increasingly ubiquitous and fans increasingly savvy. So if Teddy Swims, who’s acknowledged that he finds AI useful, were to win best pop vocal album on Sunday night, he could receive some public scrutiny along with his trophy.
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